Automatic wates-hsatee cotsttkolleb



April 28, 1925.

v A. WILD AUTOMATIC WATER HEATER CONTROLLER Filed Jan. 18, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

A. WILD A UToMATIc WATER HEATER CONTROLLER April. 28, 1925.

Filed Jan. 18, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A ToRNEYs to i #El "ab i wie. EN:

AUTOMATIC WATER-E7 LTER CONTRQLLER.

Application filed January 18, 1924i. Serial No. 68?,1316.

To @7L whom t l27mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED lVILD, a citizen of Czechoslovakia, and resident of Milwaukee7 in the countyot Milwaukee and State ot lVisconsin, have invented new and useful improvements in Automatic l/Vater- Heater Controllers. ol which the followingis a description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which are a. part ot this specification.

T his invention relates to improvements in automatic water heater controller.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an automatic water heater controller which may be operated 'and set from a point distant irom the controller and when the temperature of the water is heated to the desired degree,the heat will be automatically turned oft.

A further object o1 the invention is to provide an automatic water heater controller in which it will be impossible to set the controller with the main supply of gas turned on in case the pilot light is accidentally extinguished.

A further objectV of the invention is to provide an automatic water heater controller in which the main supply of gas may be closed orf from a distant point independent of the automatic closing.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic water heater controller in which the water in the upper portion or the boiler to which the heater is connected will first be heated and when its temperature reaches a predetermined degree the circulation will be automatically changed toinclude all of the water in the boiler to heat thesame.

further object of the invention is to provide an automatic water heater controller which is mechanically operated from a distant point without the employment of electrical means.

A further object ot the invention is to provide an automat-ic water heater controler in which the heat of the water flowing irom the tanl controls the suppl)T of gas to the burner.

A further object oit the invention is to provide an automatic water heater controller which is of simple construction, is strong; and durable, and is well. adapted Yfor the purpose described.

lilith the above and other objects in view. the invention consists of the improved auto` matic water heater controller and its parts and combinations as set forth in thro claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanyingrl drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all or the views:

Fig'. 1 is a side view partly in section oi the improved automatic wate heater coutroller;

Fie'.

heater 2 is a side view of the automatic shown connected to a storage boiler;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view on a larger saale of the thermostatic device con1 trolling the "tlow of water through the lioiler: and l Fig. (l. is a sectional detail view on a larger scale of the thermostatic device controlling' the inainl'low of: gas to the burner.

Referring; to the drawing., the niuneral 8 indicates a water boiler or tank. Sl the inlet or supply pipe, l the hot water outlet or discharge pipe, l] the wat-er heater and l2 the burner thereof. A heater. outlet pipe `1 Sl connects the upper portion ot the heater to the water boiler S and a heater inlet pipe Ala? connects the lower portion ot the he ter with the lower portion ot the water boilerL 8. rlhe improved water heater controller is connected to the pipe ll between the boiler S and the heater ll and is provided with a wire or other connection lf3 extending` to the arm 17 ot a manuall)7 actuated control 18 located at a distant point. Said controller is provided with an operating` handle 19 and a dial 2O having a scale thereon 'tor indicating the den/ree ot heat desired. '.lhe controller l comprises the tubular portion 2l which intersects the pipe 'lil and carries an upper arm 22 and a lower arni j; valve 2d closing the lower portion of the tubular u'ieinher 2l is provided with a spring` closed valve'memlier having an outwa 'dl projecting stem 25 Yfor moving' the saine. Gas is supplied to said valve through the pipe 2G and a pipe QT controlled bv the said valve extends to and supplies gras to the burner l2. Another pipe @D lo connected to the valve 2l and extending` upwardliY along side of the heater ll provided with a medial opening' Q9 which coincides nh An openingT ll' iu the lo"er`portion oi the "asino ot the heater und 'ttnms a pilot l jrlit i 'for the burner lf2 ot said heater. The p pe the pilot light opening. Said pipo throughout its length also serres as a thermostat for stopping the Constant supply ot' gas to the burner when the pilot light is not burning. The upper end ot said thermostatic pipe 28 is pivot/ally connected. to the short end of a lever 3l medialiy tulcrumed on one end of the arm 22. The long` end of this lever 3l is adapted to engage a bell crank hoolr lever also lulcrumed on the arm 22 and which will be more fully described later.

A bar slidably guided in the arms 2L and 23 is provided with a weight let 'for normally holding it in its lower or otta position, and is also provided with a spring` interposed between the arm Q2 and a trans- Verse pin 36 mounted in the upper portion of the bar 33 to cushion the blow when the bar is dropped.- Said bar is provided with laterally extending rack teeth 3T which i ncrease in length or depth transversely et the bar toward the lower end ot the bar as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2. The variations in transverse length or depth et these teeth provide for heating` the Vater to various temperatures. The bell crank hooi; lever 32, be'l'ore mentionet7 works in conjunction with the rael: teeth and its hook portion 32 is adapted to engage any one of the teeth and hold up the bar until the water reaches the predetermined temperature. A coiled spring 3S normally holds the hook portion. 32 oit the lever in engage ment with the edge portion ot the bar so that when Said bar is pulled upwardly thY hook will snap under the desired tooth and hold the/bar in adjusted position until it is automatically released by the temperature of the water `flowing through the tubular part 21.

Positioned within the tubular portion and of less diameter than said portion, .is a tube 39 of slight expansibility which is threaded into the upper end ot' the tubular member and also into the arm 22 while the lower end. of said tribe suspended within said tubular portion and .is closed by a tulcrum plugl 4() having an upper annular tulcrum edge /l-l. Levers ll2 tulcrunied on said annular edge have their shorter outer ends engaged by the lower end portions ot an expansible tubo 43 positioned within the tube 39 and bearing' at its upper end against the arm 22. An expansible rod or tube -il-l extends through the arm Q2 and into the tribe and at its lower end is proyided with a cap 45 which bears against the inner longer ends oit the levers The upper portion ot the rod lt carries a collar f and a coiled spring` elfi encircling); the said rod interposed between the said voll and the arm to yieldine'ly hold the roi in its lower position and the tube in it upper position. Said rod or tuhe lll pio je 'ts upwardly :trein the aria 22 and innuediat l. beneath an adjusting screw l? threaded through the bell crank lever 32,

so that the heat ot the water circulating through the pipes lil, ll, the tubular portion 2l and the heater and the boiler will cause the tubes 3l), d3 and the rod or tube del to expand ant said rod del will enge-.gre the screw il? oit the lever 32 and Ytorce the hooked end ot the lever out of engagement with the particular tooth engaged, and the rod 33 will drop by gravitV to its lowerniost position to turn oliA the main supply olf gas, as will new he described The rod Z' at a point 'in horizontal alineinent with the valve stem 2,5/ is recessed to 'orin a tooth #lf3 thereaboye which is engaged by the lree end of a piyoted arm Llf) to limit the downward movement olf the rod Bil and to position the said arm with relation to the valve stem which is engaged by the arm. Said recess is formed with au inclined edge lS to force the arm 41:9 Vtothe lett and the Valve 25 to open position and said Vvalve will be held in said open position by engagement of the arni with the side edge portion 5S oit the bar when the bar is raised. T he inter-position et the arm el) between the ba' 3 and the valve stem 25 provides or sulnitantially a straight lino pressure on the ralve stein. then the Valve is open the gas from the pipe will flow through the valve and the pipe 27 to the burner l2.

rl`he tooth L8 projects outwardly beyond the other teeth and coel :ts with the hooked end oil the ell c lank lever when the gas is turned on and it is desired to manually close it ott'. This function is accomplished by turning` the pointer et the arm 19 upwardly to ott position to raise the bar 33 so that ,its tooth t8 will engage the lower bow eled edge ol' the hook 32 and torce it away from the teeth l? to a position so that the notch ot the jpiiroted arm 5l will engage the transwerse pin of the bell crank lever and hold i hooked end out ot engagement with the teeth 237. lllhen thus engaged the pointer ot the arm l is swung downwardly to drop the bar 33, nd when said har has almost reached its lowermost position, a ,rznisrerse pin 523 on said bnr will striiie the piroted arm i and swing;` it downwardly to dis `v.inaggge the pin 52 and permit the bell oranti lever to swing;` to normal position. The downward increment ol.3 the bar will, ot course close oil the gas to the burner as be- 'tore mentioned. )L spring' 5l yieldinely holds the pivoted arm :3l in its upper position. V Y

ln the erent that the pilot light accidentally extin fuislV l and the main zas supply is turned on. a dangggerous condition will arise and to overcome 'this the lever 3l before mentioned is provided. The long` end oi'i said loyer l extends beneath the CTl upper arm of the bell crank level' S2 and an adjustable screw carried by said lever 32 is engaged by the lever 3l to swing the hooked end of the lever away from the bar 33 so it cannot engage the teeth thereof and thus prevent the main supply gas valve from being held in open position. lNhile the pilot light is burning the tube 28 will be heated and expanded and will swing the short end ot the lever 3l upwardly and the long end downwardly away from the bell crank lever, but when the pilot light is extinguished the tube 28 will contract and swing the long end orn the lever 31 into engagement with the bell crank lever and prevent the valve from being maintained in open position.

It is desirable at times to only heat a small quantity ol water, whereas boilers as ordinarily constructed provide for circulating all of the water in the boiler through the heater, regardless of the amount required, with the result that a long period o't' time is required to heat a small quantity ot water. To obviate this, a thermostatically controlled loop pipe 56 is provided which is connected to the pipe ll and to a Ypipe 57 connected to the upper portion of the boiler a slight distance below the pipe 13. The loop pipe 56 comprises a valve casing- 58 provided with a valve seat 59 controlling the tlow of water through the pipe l-l to the boiler, and also provided with a valve seat GO controlling the flow of water through the pipe 57 to the boiler. A valve stem 6l extends through both valve seats and is provided with an upper valve 62 controlling the seat and a lower valve G3 controlling the seat 59. A coiled spring 6e encircles the lower end of the valve stem and is interposed between the valve G3 and an adjusting screw or bolt G5 threaded through the lower end of the valve casing. Said spring normally holds the valve 63 closed and the valve (32 in open position so that in first heating the water, the flow will be through the pipe 57. The portion of the loop enclosing the thermostat is in the form of an inverted U and in the horizontal portion 56 thereoi a lever 66 is tulcrumed and its longer end carries a pivoted pointed member 6T which engages the upper end ot an expansible rod 68 interposed between the valve 62 and the pointed member GT. Another expansible rod 69 is threaded through the other end of the ll-shaped tube 5G and at its upper end bears against the pointed end or' a pointed member 70 pivoted to thv short end oi' the lever GG.

As thus constructed the water iirst heated will pass through the U-shaped tube leading to the upper portion of the boiler so that the water only in the upper portion ot the boiler will be circulated back and forth through the heater. its the temperature et' the water increases, the thermostatic rods 68 and 69 will expand and move the valves (S2 and G3 downwardly, closing the valve seat G2 and opening the valve seat 59 and thereby causing the water to circulate through the pipe 14 to the lower portion of the boiler to heat all of the water in the boiler. Pipes 70 and 7l connected respectively to the pipes 57 and 14 are adapted to be connected to a furnace or other heating means, it desired.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the automatic water heater controller permits the easy control et the heater from a distant point and when a desired temperature has been reached, the gas to the heater will be automatically closed oil. lt will be further seen that the device provides for the heating of a small amount ot water quickly.

lVhat l claim my invention is:

l. An automatic water heater controll r, comprisinga water heater having a gas burner and means for lighting the same, a boiler and a controller to which the water pipes of the heater are connected to provide a back and forth circulation of water from the heater to the boiler and through the controller, a thermostatic means controlled by the temperature of the circulated water :tor stopping the supply of gas to the burner when the temperature of the water flowingl` through the controller reaches a predetermined degree, means indicating diterent temperatures and easily ooerable from a distant point for selecting the degree et temperature at which the supply ot gas to the burner will be stopped, and a pilot light thermostatie means coacting with the first mentioned thermostatic means and the distant point operating means for stopping the supply ot to the burner when the lighting means 1s not in operation.

2. An automatic water heater controller, comprising a water heater having` a burner and means for lighting` the same, a boiler and controller to which the water pipes of the heater are connected to provide a back and forth circulation ot water from the heater to the boiler and through the controller, a thermostat positioned within the controller and resil'ionsive to the temperature of the circulating water, a valve for controlling the supply ol gas to the burner` a mechanism including a rack bar interposed between the thermostat and the valve 'for actuating the valve, and means indicating different temperatures and easily operable from a distant point for setting t-he mechanism to respond to a selected water temperature flowing 'through the regulator and close the gas valve when said temperature has been reached.

8. ein .uitomatic water heater contro comprising water heater having a y burner and means for lighting the same, a

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boiler and a controller to `Which the Water pipes of the heater `are connected to pro-- vide a back and Yforth circulation of Water from the heater to the boiler and through the controller,.a thermostat positioned Within the controller and responsive 4to the temperature ot' the circulating lwater, a valve for controlling the supply of gas to the burner, ra rack b ar for controlling the gas valve, a pivoted member releasably holding the rack bar in selective positions and movable by the thermostat to release said bar, and means indicating ditlerent temperatures and easily operable from a distant point tor moving the rack bar lo a selected position.

t. An automatic water heater controller, comprising a water heater having a gas burner and a pilot light member, a boiler to which the water pipes ot' the heater are connected to provide a bach and forth circulation of water from the heater to the boiler, a `thermostat positioned within and responsive to the temperature of the circulating water, a valve controlling the supply of gas to the burner, a rack bar for controlling the gas valve, a pivoted member releasably holding the rack bar in selective positionsand movable by the thermostatto release the bar, said pivoted member lalso being responsive to expansion of the pilot light member, `and means operable from a distant point tor moving the rack bar to a selected position.

5. An automatic Water -heater controller, comprising a Water heater having` a burner `andian expansible pilot light member, a boiler, pipes connecting the heater to the boiler to provide a back and forth circulation of Water trom the heater to the boiler, a thermostat positioned Within one ot the pipes and responsive to the temperature of the water circulating theretl'n'ough, a valve controlling the supply of gas tothe burner, a rack bar positioned to open the gas valve by a longitudinal movement of said bar, a pivoted member releasably holdingthe bar in selected positions and in any one of which the gas valve is held in open position, said pivoted member beingactuated by the thermostat to release the rack bar and permit it to close the valve when the temperatine oi.i the circulated water reaches the selected. degree, said pivoted member being movable to an inoperative position by the expansible pilot light member inv the event the pilot light is e3:- tinguished, and means operable Yfrom a dis` tant point tor moving the rarl: bar to a .selected position.

(i. An automatic 1vater heater controller, coniprising a water heater lnlving a gas burner, a boiler` pipes connect-ing the heater to the boiler to provide al back and forth circulation of Water from the heater to the boiler,.a,thermostatpositioned in one of the pipes and having a .portion projecting outwardly tromsaid pipe, a normally closed valve controlling the supply of gas to the burner, a rack .bar positioned adjacent Ithe gas valve and having an angular edge portion `tor niovingvthegas `valve to open position when said-rodis r-aised,the teeth ot said rack bar increasing in depth toward rthe lowerendoil the rod, a jpivoted -bell crank lever having ,a vhooked portion engageable with the'teethjtfor releasably holding the bar in an upper selected position, one portion of the bell eranlrlever being engageable'by the projecting portion ot' the thermostat to cause it to release the bar when the selected water temperature has been reached, and means operable troni a distant point for moving the bar to ra .positionwherea selected tooth will be engaged bythe hooked `portion ot the bell cranlrilever.

7. An automatic `water heater controller, comprising a Water heater having a gas burner-,and an expansible pilot light niember, a boiler, pipes connectingthe heater to the boiler to provide a bacltand forth eirculation o't Water from the heater to the boiler, aYthermostatpositioned in one ofthe pipesand having a portion project-ing outwardly -trom said pipe, a :normally closed valve controlling `the supply ot' gas to the burner, a rack bar positioned adjacent the gas valve and having an angular edge portion lor moving the gas valve to open position `when said rod is raised, the teeth oit .said rack bar increasing in depth towardtbe lower end of the rod, a pivoted bell crank lever having `a hooked portion engageable with the teeth .erreleasably holdingthebar in an upper selected position, one portion. ot the bell crankflever being engageable by the proj ect'` ig portion ot' the thermostat to cause it to release tlxeibar when the selected .Water temperature has been reached, said bell crank lever also being engageable by the pilot light member and n'iovable thereby to an inoperative position when the `pilot .is extinguished, and means voperable from a distant point for moving it to a position wherea selected tooth will be engaged by the hooked portion ot' the bell crank lever.

S. An automatic water heater controller, comprising a water heater havingl a gas burner, and an expansible pilot light mein* ber, a boiler, pipes connectii'igl the heater to the boiler to provide a backend torth cireulation ol Water from the heater to the boiler, a thermostat:positioned in one of' the pipes and having a portion projecting ont-` \.vardl v from said pipe, a normallyv closed valve controlling the suppl)v ot' gasto the burner, a rack bar positioned Aadjacent the gas valve and having an angular edge portion Ytor moving the gas valve to open position when .said rod is raiseththe teeth of said lill) lllf) lil() rack bar increasing in depth toward the lower end of the rod, a pivoted bell crank lever having a hooked portion engageable with the teeth for releasably holding the bar in an upper selected position, one portion of the bell crank lever being engageable by the projecting portion of the thermostat to cause it to release the bar when the seleoted Water temperature has been reached,

i0 a lever engaged by the expansible pilot light member and movable thereby to engage and move the bell crank lever to an inoperative position when the pilot light is extinguished, and means operable from a distant point for moving,- the rac-k bar to a position Where a selected tooth will be engaged by the hooked portion of the bell crank lever.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

ALFRED VILD. 

